The Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Director Dwight Takamine announced today that the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF), which is used to pay unemployment benefits is now “in the black.”

Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono yesterday voted against a bill she called the “Election Prevention Act” saying it did nothing but undermine workers’ rights to organize.

Hoping to help make solar energy investments more affordable, the State of Hawaii and Hawaii Community Reinvestment Corporation yesterday launched GreenSun Hawaii, an innovative energy financing program.

In the scramble to make ends meet, increasingly more consumers like Mapuana Hanapi are turning to an often overlooked emergency loan program at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

Hawaiian Airlines announced yesterday the addition of 107,000 new air seats annually on their Bay Area to Hawaii route.

Total expenditures by Maui visitors in the first nine months of 2011 increased by 15.1%, compared to the same period last year, to $2,370.5 million, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Bank of Hawaii yesterday reported income gains despite continued increase in delinquencies from consumer loans and leases, particularly neighbor island residential mortgages and home equities.

Earlier this month, Kupono Productions, Inc., a Maui-based video and software company, launched The Beach Locator, an Android smartphone app.

With more than 1200 attending last year, the 9th Annual Molokai Chamber of Commerce Business & Food Expo will again celebrate Molokai’s agriculture and food products industries with several Maui celebrity chefs.

Maui County unemployment rose to 7.9% in September, a 0.4% increase from a month ago, but still lower than one year ago when it was 8.3%, according to the Hawaii State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations.